With a Little Help From Our Friends
by gentlehummingbird
Summary: It has been a while since I have written anything, so I hope you like it. I loved the camaraderie of the gang in the finale and I like the idea of them being invested in Danny and Mindy's love life. It's short but I think it will turn into a multi-chapter if I get a good response!
1. Chapter 1

Life would never be the same again for Danny Castellano. Being in love had changed his whole outlook on life. He could no longer keep up the old-fashioned curmudgeon routine- the cat was well and truly out of the bag. He was in love with Mindy Lahiri and he could no longer hide his smiles or stifle his giggles when he was around her. It seemed crazy to him now that he had wanted to keep their relationship a secret the first time around. These days, PDAs were commonplace in Shulman and Associates and he was nowhere near as irritated or embarrassed by comments from their co-workers about their sex life as he though he would be. It had come as a surprise to him that his colleagues had been so encouraging of his pursuit of her. He had come to realise that the gossipy, overly-invested-in-each-others'- lives nature of their office had in fact thrown him a life line. He knew they were responsible for ultimately getting her to believe in him and he would be eternally grateful. And definitely friendlier around the office.

It was for this reason that Dr Castellano came to be stood outside the window of a jewelry store with a gaggle of his colleagues, all of whom were now squashed together fighting for a peek at the precious item they had come to inspect (all except Beverly, who had sheepishly muttered something before they had left about cops, jewelry and somebody called Susan). Morgan's nose was pressed fully against the glass, eliciting some irritated glares from the store manager inside.

"So uh… what do you guys all think?" Danny asked tentatively, eyeing each of his colleagues expectantly, trying to gauge their first impressions.

"Damn, Dr C. I think I might just dump his sorry ass and marry you myself!" declared Tamra, poking Morgan affectionately in the ribs as she spoke.

"This is gon' earn you some serious brown sugar, bro!" declared Peter, patting him roughly on the shoulder to demonstrate his approval.

"Danny. It's exquisite. She's a lucky girl" smiled Jeremy kindly.

Morgan simply grabbed him by the shoulders, pulled him forward into a bear hug (almost winding him in the process) and sobbed into his hair. Pulling away, he nodded approvingly and wiped a tear from his eye. Danny rolled his eyes at him and brushed down his hair to show his irritation at the gesture, but who was he kidding… he loved that his friends were so invested in his future with Mindy.

"Ok, so I'm doing this. This is happening." Danny announced nervously.

Truth was, he was petrified. He knew she would say yes, the three months they had spent together as an official couple had allayed any doubt in his mind that they were both all in. But Mindy was a sophisticated woman with a particular taste, and he knew that the ring had to be one hundred percent perfect. Mindy was a woman who could never mask her disapproval of something convincingly, so he would know instantly if she were to not like his choice. He desperately wanted to see joy in her eyes and for her to see how well he knows her. He had opted for a simple yet elegant white gold and diamond three-stone ring. It was exactly what he imagined on her finger, and he smiled to himself at the thought of her waving her hand around for all the world to see. He knew he loved it, but he wanted to run it by the people he had grown to appreciate greatly over the past few months. He was certain she would be touched to know they helped him along the way.

"So go do it!" They all encouraged as they pushed him through the doors, cheering rowdily enough to attract the attention of a rather surly looking security guard.

"Perhaps we'll leave you to it" suggested Jeremy, sensibly.

Less than an hour later, Danny was walking out of the jewelry store with a very special box safely ensconced in his jacket pocket. He had considered it an extremely good sign that the ring in the window had been her exact size. He could hardly wait to put the next stage of his plan into action and his cheeks ached from the constant smile that could not be wiped from his face. Yeah, life would never be the same again. And he loved it.


	2. Chapter 2

The best part of Mindy Lahiri's day was always bedtime. Not because she was some kind of sex maniac, thank you very much (although… well it IS Danny). It was her favourite part simply because they could lie together with no interruptions (except when there were babies asking to be born), bodies in a tangle of warmth and contentedness. They would always fall asleep in an embrace and even when she'd wake in the night, she'd always find that at least a small part of their bodies was always touching- a hand stretched across to touch her waist, little fingers linked together, a hand on his back. It was as if they were magnets, drawn together and reluctant to ever part. Unless one or the other was on call, they always aimed to go to bed at the same time and almost always did. Yeah, going to bed was definitely Mindy Lahiri's favourite part of the day.

Which is why she grumbled so much when Danny began going to his divorced men's basketball club again.

"But those men are all miserable, Danny! And not over their wives! Are you miserable again…?" she asked incredulously.

"Of course not!" he smiled, grabbing her hands and pulling her closer to him. "Look, despite their questionable motives for starting this club, they are actually pretty decent guys. It's just a fun way to stay in shape. And besides, now I can gloat to myself about no longer being a sad loser now that I have the sexiest girl in New York on my arm!" He kissed her full on the lips with this last remark, causing her to momentarily forget why she was so mad at him. She allowed herself a few seconds of indulgence before pulling away to continue her case.

"Ok, that was super hot, so we'll continue it later. But I still need to talk! Why is the club in the evenings now, Danny? Didn't it used to be a lunch break thing? It's just so inconvenient. By the time you get back and get showered, I'm too sleepy to stay awake and end up going to bed without you! You know I hate that, babe!" She knew she sounded like a spoilt child and could even feel herself pouting. His eye rolls and laughter at her petulance didn't really help.

"I know, Min. It's just one night a week, what's the harm? Besides, I like sliding in next to you when you're already warm. And you make the sexiest moans when I put my hands on you. We both know you wake up when I get in anyway…" At this, she could feel him hardening against her as he nuzzled her neck. The conversation was quickly over, argument long forgotten.

* * *

It was a Friday when Danny slipped into Mindy's office, closing the door softly behind him and shooting her a half smile. She was finishing a phone call but ushered him forward with her hand and he sat down opposite her. She was only half listening to the pharmaceutical rep on the other end when she noticed that Danny was tapping his foot in a weird way. He was also licking his lips and appeared to be sweating more profusely than usual. Was he nervous about something? She hung up the phone and furrowed her brows at him.

"What gives, babe? What's with the shifty serial killer routine?" she giggled at her own joke, before trying to regain a muted expression. Dammit, she was never good at those.

"What?! Shifty?! What?! No. Of course not…." He was bumbling. Definitely shifty. "I just came in here to ask if you wanna join me for dinner tonight? It's our six month anniversary after all! Jeremy was telling me about this new Italian place he tried a few weeks ago that sounds okay. You in?"

Her heart raced as it dawned on her why he might be acting so strangely. She dared to hope that tonight might be the night he would propose.

"I'm all in, Danny" she smiled brightly.

"Great, great. Well I have few things to sort before we go, gotta run some errands for Ma. You okay to meet there, say eight? I know you like for us to head out together but I really gotta help Ma with the thingy, uh… with uh…."

"Eight is great, babe" she interrupted. Whatever he had planned was causing him to babble and his brow was now glistening, so she thought it would be kinder to jump in and save him.

"Okay. Good! I'll go get the address from Jeremy and be right back!" He backed out of the room clumsily and finally left her alone with her thoughts. Five hundred mile-an-hour thoughts! There was no way she was getting any work done for the rest of the day. She glared longing at the clock, willing it to change to five thirty so she could head home to put together her 'Oh-my-goodness-you-want-to-marry-ME?' outfit. You know, just in case she needed it.

* * *

The restaurant was busy. She had arrived first, which was odd, because she was already fashionably late by twenty minutes. She checked the time on her phone for the ninth time in a row when a text bleeped through.

_Sorry, Min. Running late. With you in 10. Order for me?_

So not the romantic evening she had planned. She jabbed her napkin with her fork in irritation as she formulated a suitably pissed off reply in her head. She was about to start typing when she was distracted by the music in the restaurant. Somebody had turned up the volume and it was pretty loud now. Confused, she looked around the room to decipher a reason. It was a great song, one of her current favourites. John Legend's 'All of Me' was now blasting through the speakers.

Then the strangest thing happened. The couple at the table next to her got out of their seats and without a word, started slow-dancing right in the middle of the restaurant! Great- instead of starring in her own proposal scene, she was slap bang in the middle of some other dude proposing to his jammy girlfriend. Rude.

She looked away, sucking her cheeks in, feeling slightly awkward. Weirdly, everybody else in the room seemed oblivious to the couple and the loud music, chatting away as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Then, all of a sudden, two people from a party of six the other side of her pushed out their chairs and started slow dancing too. Then a pair from across the room, another from the table behind her and finally, the waiter and waitress! It was co-ordinated and beautiful, the couples swinging each other around like something from Dancing with the Stars.

"Oh. My. God. What the hell?!" Mindy opened her mouth in shock as a familiar face appeared from behind a menu at a table in front of her. It was Beverly. She rose from her seat and slowly turned her menu around to reveal the word 'HEAD'. She then pointed across the room, where a bashful looking Jeremy held up a card reading 'TO THE'. He smiled and nodded in the direction of the door. Through the door walked Betsy, holding 'EMPIRE' on her card. Finally, Tamra joined Betsy with STATE'.

Tears streamed down Mindy's cheeks as she observed the scene unfolding in front of her. She nodded frantically, giddy with both joy and confusion. She rushed past the girls, kissing them both on the cheek as she went. She heard cheers from the restaurant as the flashmob stopped their dancing and clapped her. Outside waiting for her was a cab, with a familiar looking chauffer holding the door open for her.

"Thank you, Morgan." she squeaked, as he pulled her forward for a hug.

"Will it be the Empire State Building, Miss?" he replied, an enormous grin spread across his cheeks.

"Hell yeah! Drive!"

On arrival, she was extremely relieved to find the elevators in working order. Outside one of them, she spotted a rather irritable-looking Peter fiddling with the collar on his security guard costume. He grinned, however, on her approach.

"Glad you could make it, Madam. If you'd like to step this way." He ushered her into the elevator, muttering something about costumes and short straws as the doors closed.

Her heart was beating ridiculously fast as she prepared herself for what could possibly be waiting for her at the top. So far it had been magical and she hadn't even seen the man himself yet. This was already the most romantic thing she had ever encountered and it was all for her. She was drawn from her thoughts by the ding of the elevator alerting her that the doors were finally going to open. They slid apart and she instantly saw him through the glass doors to the observation gallery. He was wearing his Bradley Cooper suit and was sporting the most humongous grin. It was intoxicating.

She stepped out, walked towards him (somewhat unsteadily) and let out a long, nervous breath. The tears were unstoppable and he wiped her cheeks gently as she reached him. She could see that his eyes were red and glistening with tears too. He said nothing, just took her hand and lead her towards the edge. Here, he got down on one knee and produced the all-important box.

"Mindy Lahiri. You are the most wonderful, vibrant, fascinating woman I have ever known. You have changed me in so many ways, yet you have embraced the man that I am. Every day I look at you and cannot believe how lucky I am to have you. I want to go to bed with you every night and wake up with you every day a happier and better man for having you. Will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?"

"Yes, Danny! Oh my God, I love you much, yes!" Now it was her turn to babble. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he lifted her in a tight embrace. They stayed like that for what must have been a few minutes before they were interrupted.

"So did she like the ring, Dr C?!" The whole gang were now encircling them, grinning cheesily in anticipation.

"Oh right, yeah, the ring! Min I haven't even put it on your finger yet!" Danny unclenched the fist that was holding onto to box and pulled out the ring. Mindy thought it was the most exquisite piece of jewelry she had ever seen and sobbed into his shoulder once it was in place.

"You guys, how did you do this?! And how did you convince Danny to go so public with his proposal? And a flashmob?! Seriously? This is amazing. I love you guys so much!" She was brimming with questions and completely overcome with appreciation for the effort they must have all gone to. "And you, big guy- a security guard costume? Kudos, man!" She punched Peter affectionately on the arm.

"Hey, hey, hey! What about me? I'm the one who proposed! Where's my kudos?" Danny teased.

"Oh you'll be getting yours later, don't you worry." She winked. "Is this what you were doing all those 'basketball' nights?"

"Of course. You seriously think I'd choose to spend my Thursday nights with one of your exes? And the sex-tape one at that?!"

The group slowly made their way towards the elevator. It had been the most incredible night of Mindy's life. As she gazed at Danny in amazement, and him at her, their excited friends chattered happily around them about heading for food. As much as she adored them, the rest of the night was for just her and Danny. Thankfully, Danny shared her train of thought.

"Uh guys… Thanks for everything and I will buy you all dinner tomorrow night and every week from here to eternity to show my appreciation. But I think Min and I are gonna call it a night tonight" he grinned.

"Ohhhhh yeah!" Whooped and cheered the gang as they stepped out of the elevator. "Have a good night you two!".

Oh it was a definitely a good night.


	3. Chapter 3

"Danny! Danny, Danny, Danny!" hissed Mindy insistently, in an attempt to get his attention as discreetly as possible. "Okay that is the third time it has happened this week. I am definitely not imagining things!"

"Come on, Min. Why the hell would Tamra be taking secret photographs of us? Morgan I could understand, I mean he's always been cuckoo. But Tamra, nah. You're being paranoid, darling."

"Well, maybe Morgan's weirdness is rubbing off on her, did you think of that? Oh God, maybe they are using the pictures in their weird sex games!"

"Shhhh! Would you be quiet? You sound hysterical. Hey, Tamra. Are you taking clandestine photographs of my fiancée?" he asked, barely lifting his eyes from his newspaper.

"What?! You two are crazy. Maybe that's the kind of shit you two are into, but not me. Nah uh." With that, she quickly departed, tossing a suitably offended glance over her shoulder.

"See? In your imagination." Concluded Danny, with an affectionate pat on her hand and kiss to the temple.

"Oh yeah, like she'd admit it. And I can't believe you just came out with it and asked!" They were sat in the break room, drinking coffee and reading- him the newspaper and her the latest edition of Us Weekly. She had now risen from her seat, hands propped on hips in a suitably affronted-looking fashion. "I'm getting back to my office, babe. Sometimes I just feel like we're a pair of zoo animals to these people." She then proceeded to kiss him chastely on the lips before flouncing out of the room like a diva.

Danny almost snorted at her departing comment. He knew full well that she was the exhibitionist in their relationship. Who was she kidding?! She loved any attention they got and would jump at any opportunity to kiss him publicly or brag about how in love they are. These days, he wouldn't want it any other way. He was pretty sure that his poor colleagues were subjected to enough of this behaviour throughout the day to not require photographic mementos of the two of them. Amused, he watched as she took a detour at the front desk on the way to her office, presumably to bend poor Beverly's ear about the fancy restaurant he had taken her to last night. Hopefully she wouldn't feel the need to fill her in on what happened when they got home… Thankfully Mindy showed some discretion when it came to that part of their relationship.

In two weeks' time she would be his wife. He smiled to himself and his stomach did a happy little somersault at this thought as he folded up his paper and headed out the door. As he by-passed his future wife at reception, he kissed her quickly on the cheek. Looking around to check the coast was clear, he couldn't resist a quick squeeze of her butt for good measure.

* * *

"So, son. Tomorrow's finally the big day, huh? How are you feeling, young man?" Mindy's father greeted Danny with a strong handshake, followed by an affectionate pat on the shoulder. "Are you sure you're ready to take on the little hurricane that is my precious daughter?" he chuckled.

"Yes Sir, I believe I am!" confirmed Danny, both men transfixed on the vision mingling excitedly with guests across the room. They were at their rehearsal dinner, held at the very restaurant where his proposal had started.

"You're good for her, son. You keep her grounded. Priya and I are exceptionally proud of you both. We met your friend Morgan earlier, he spoke very fondly of you. It sounds like you both mean a lot to your friends."

"Yes, we are lucky to have them around us. Although I must admit they have been acting kinda strangely over the last few weeks or so. I keep walking into rooms and clearly interrupting something 'cause they stop talking as soon as they see me. I have a horrible feeling Morgan is planning something for tonight or tomorrow. I just hope it doesn't involve his dogs!" laughed Danny. It was a strangled, nervous laugh and he adjusted his collar awkwardly as he thought about the antics Morgan could be getting up to.

"Oh, I don't think you need to worry. I'm sure whatever it is will be great." Samir reassured his soon-to-be son-in-law with a knowing smile.

Danny didn't need to wait long for his suspicions to be confirmed. Their conversation was cut short by the clinking of a glass and a loud announcement from the back of the room.

"Ladies and gentleman. We kindly ask that you return to your seats in order for us to share a little surprise we've been planning for the bride and groom!" announced Jeremy.

Danny swiftly made his way towards his fiancée, eyeing her nervously. She on the other hand, looked as though she would burst any second with glee. Mindy, unlike him, loved surprises. She was beaming, clapping her hands excitedly.

"Oh Danny, can you believe this? They are the best!" she squealed.

"Aren't you a little nervous about what they have planned?" he whispered back. He quickly deciphered from her reaction that of course she wasn't and that he should probably just shut up and pay attention to what was going on. He placed a soft kiss on her hand before clutching it in his for security.

Next to speak to the guests was Peter.

"Good evening all. Now as one or two of you may have heard, these two lovebirds are getting married tomorrow! Can we get a 'whoop!' for that, people?" He paused for cheers from the delighted crowd before continuing. "You may also have noticed that the scoundrels can't seem to be able to keep their hands off each other, am I right?!" This elicited another bout of whoops and cheers from the guests. "Well, my friends. We've put together a little something to show everyone what we see every day at the office... Sure, I find it a little puke-inducing at times, but most of all we are just really happy that you guys finally manned up and got it on."

"I knew I should have done the speech, Peter!" interrupted Jeremy, drawing a giggle from the audience.

Danny tightened his grip on Mindy's hand as the lights dimmed and all eyes turned to the projector screen that they had both failed to spot earlier in the evening. As Springsteen's 'Dancing in the Dark' started over the speakers, an array of images of the two of them as children flashed across the screen. Danny glanced at Samir, who nodded at him with the same knowing smile.

Next to appear were photographs of the two of them in the years before they were couple. _A photograph with Jeremy back when they were interns. One of him reading her speech at her ill-fated Christmas party. A photograph of them at the hospital on her birthday, Danny looking unamused in the bed with her face squished next to his. One of them at the finish line of the charity race, him in her pink sneakers. A photograph of them sat on a log next to each other when camping. A photograph of them doing the hula together at Danny's party. One of them clinking glasses of lemonade with the gang at last year's Christmas party, her in that beautiful green dress that made his heart skip when he saw her. _

Soon the images switched to times when they didn't even realise they were on camera. _Holding hands while waiting for the elevator at work. Listening to her iPod on the train through one set of earphones. Sharing a piece of coffee cake in the break room. Caught kissing (apparently discreetly) through the crack in her office door. Dancing closely at their engagement party._ He remembered that moment- gazing into each other's eyes. It's true, they didn't notice anyone else was even in the room at that point, let alone taking pictures.

The final picture was of the two of them sat side by side in the break room, both reading and not looking at each other. However, their little fingers were linked together nonchalantly and they both looked content and at ease in each other's company. He looked over at Tamra, who laughed and winked.

The music faded and the lights came back on.

"Please raise your glasses and join us in toasting the future Dr and Dr Castellano!" declared Morgan.

Danny could feel the hot sting of tears behind his eyes. He looked at Mindy, who was openly sobbing and an enormous grin spread across his cheeks. They both made their way across the room to their colleagues, embracing them in bear hugs and appreciative pats on the back.

"I guess it was obvious all along, huh?" laughed Danny. "We look good together, Min!"

"We sure do, babe. We sure do."


	4. Chapter 4

"Are you ready, my darling girl?"

Mindy's father was offering his arm to his radiant daughter. She was dressed in a simple and elegant figure-hugging and off-the-shoulder gown. Her hair fell in soft waves around her face and across her shoulders, with a simple diamante and pearl jewel scooping a wave up one side, just behind her ear. When she had looked in the mirror that morning, she had felt like a million dollars. Contentment had raced through every fibre of her being and she was unbelievably excited to be marrying her best friend.

Now she found herself outside the church, smoothing down the front of her dress and breathing deeply in preparation for the most important walk of her life.

"I'm ready, Dad. Let's go get me married!" She grinned at her father as she slipped her arm through his.

Together they walked into the church and her eyes met Danny's instantly. Mindy had seen a thousand of Danny's smiles, all different and all magnificent. Tears filled her eyes as she thought to herself that this one was the most beautiful of them all. She had imagined this moment so many times and it was exceeding her high expectations. Danny's eyes were glistening and crinkled at the edges from his smiling. He mouthed a 'Wow!' and her tummy fluttered. It was perfect.

The whole day was a whirlwind of amazing moments, each moment seemingly competing for the position of most magical. _Seeing each other for the first time. The vows. Saying 'I do'. Finally having time to themselves in the car on the way to the reception. _But there was one part of her day that she would never forget.

Richie, Jeremy and Peter had all given funny and heartfelt speeches, teasing Danny's grumpy old man persona but complementing the bride and groom on finally making it. Her father's had the guests in tears and Mindy sobbing into her Champagne flute. But Danny's… Danny's was something else.

"Hi everyone," he began with a shaky voice. "Thank you all for joining Mindy and I on our special day. I think you'll all agree that she looks breath-taking today!" He paused nervously for the guests to all admire his new wife and utter their agreement. "As you all know, I have never been a man of many words. Not like this one, anyway!" He gestured towards Mindy with his thumb, eliciting a knowing laugh from their friends and family and an affectionate eye-roll from her. "I'm a man of few words, but I have found somebody to brighten up my life and give me the drive to do things I never thought I'd do. Like speak to a roomful of people, for example! Anyway, a few years back, Mindy and I were in the on call room at the hospital and she was watching 'When Harry Met Sally'. It was the scene where Billy Crystal was running through the streets of New York to get the girl. You probably all know it. I remember telling her that the guy was crazy. I had said something along the lines of "Who does that?" and I'm pretty sure I bent her ear about it for a while after. Well, my friends,_ I_ would do that. And as you know, because it's Min's favourite story, I _did_ do that!" The guests chuckled at this before he continued.

"My point is, I would do anything for this woman because I am crazy about her. I'm not sure how many of you know this, but I have been crazy about her for a long, long time". There was a ripple of 'Well obviously' and 'Duh!' through the room. "Okay, okay! It's true, I should have done something about it years ago. Someone told us once, before we were a couple, that I look at her in a certain way. It must be true, because when I look at her I feel like I can do anything. And I can't hide that! I want to be the one to make her smile and laugh and the fact that she lets me be the one to do it is incredible to me. My life is wonderful now that I have her in it and I will spend every day of the rest of my life trying to show her how much I love her. It will be hard, 'cause I honestly don't think it's possible to quantify".

His voice cracked at this and he wiped away a tear. Mindy was also choking back tears, giddy with joy at his words. She knew that putting himself out there like this, opening up his heart to everyone they know, must be insanely challenging for him. Especially if the beads of sweat on his brow were anything to go by. He squeezed her hand and kissed her gently on the head.

"Tonight though, my darling wife, I would like to step out of my comfort zone once again to give you and all of the important people in our lives just a glimpse of how you make me feel. For a second- and infinitely more public- time, this dance is for you, Min." He shed his jacket and began rolling up his sleeves.

"What?!" Mindy whisper-shouted disbelievingly. She looked around the room in astonishment as a familiar song began playing. Danny shot her the same bashful smile she had seen the first time he performed this to her at the Christmas party. She would never have believed the first time around that he would be doing this at their wedding! He took to the dance floor with thunderous cheers and wolf-whistles from their guests and began his polished dancing. Just as she thought things couldn't get any more unbelievable, Danny was joined by three handsome backing dancers- Morgan, Jeremy and Peter. The men were flawless in their movements; it was simultaneously hilarious and adorable.

The music ended and the guests erupted into applause. Mindy ran towards her husband and threw herself into his arms with such force he nearly fell to the floor.

"Woah! Min, I'm a little out of breath!" he chuckled as she peppered his face with kisses. "And you might wanna save that stuff for the honeymoon suite, your poor grandmother doesn't know where to look!"

"Danny, that was unbelievable! I can't believe you would do that for me!"

"Like I said, Min… I would do anything for you!" he squeezed her tightly before turning to his adoring crowd and bowing modestly.

Her heart beat quickly and she pulled him back towards her ready for their first dance. As the music started, she took in a deep breath and leaned in close to his ear.

"Danny… I have a surprise for you too. But this one is not for public announcement." She pressed her lips together into a mischievous smile.

"Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about-" he began, before she pressed a finger to his lips.

"No, Danny. Not that! What I mean is… we can share this secret in a few weeks' time. You catch my drift?"

"Wait, are you..? Are we….?"

"Uh huh!"


End file.
